Plan to get outdoors and celebrate all SWF has to offer

My wedding anniversary came and went earlier this week, and within 24 hours, hubby and I were planning where we could go for our next one — the big 2-0.

Let's hike the coast of Wales. Let's camp on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Let's explore a Caribbean forest. What about sea kayaking in Nova Scotia?

Hmmm. Go figure. Every idea of a trip that flashed into our collective couple mind was:

A) on an island

B) outdoors focused

Do you think we picked the right place to live? Southwest Florida is home to scattered barrier islands and countless mangrove islands, all of which offer opportunities to fish, beach walk, shell search, bird watch, boat, kayak, swim and relax.

Which means today's message is this: You don't have to be married to the love of your life (which I happily am) to have a classic anniversary vacation plan. You can simply plan to get outdoors this weekend and celebrate the fact that you live here.

So here are my Top 10 picks for local island-ish destinations, ranked not in order of importance but from north to south:

Beaches, shells and boats equal Southwest Florida island destinations. Palm Island: Charlotte County's best offering; joins Don Pedro Island State Park, an often undiscovered gem even by longtime locals to Southwest Florida.

Cayo Costa: Rustic rhapsody in northwest Lee County. Who needs electricity when you can stumble upon 100 sand dollars on a deserted beach in one afternoon?

Cabbage Key: Cozy and lush, a stay or day on this island west of Pine Island reminds you that beaches aren't everything. A waterfront view from a shady spot is worth 1,000 words.

Captiva Island: No stepsister to Sanibel, this place stands on its own. I love to boat into 'Tween Waters, leave the Sea Craft and walk up to Andy Rossi Lane to people watch, buy an ice cream and walk to the sliver of a beach to the west.

Sanibel Island: Don't say it's just for tourists. Just go be one for two hours or two days. The world recognizes it as a destination; don't ignore it.

JUNCO NELSON / COURTESY PHOTOS Southwest Florida island sunsets are cause for celebration. Picnic Island: Best boat-watching spot in Lee County, situated near the mouth of the Caloosahatchee, the bottom of Matlacha Pass and the edge of Pine Island Sound. The Intracoastal Waterway whizzes by while you sip a cool beverage. Do us all a favor: disrupt your holiday to bring a trash bag and haul out some debris so the island can be enjoyed by others.

Estero Island area: Lovers Key comes to mind, but anywhere up or down this strip works for back-to-back views of a great bay and the Gulf.

Isle of Capris: One of my most memorable kayak trips launched from this overlooked island where mama dolphins teach their babies how to fish by trapping the bait along seawalls and shallow spots.

Marco Island: Not an urban planner's best pick, but if you can look away from the towering hotels and along the Gulf, you get a sense of being in a place that needs a passport to visit.

Ten Thousand Islands: 10,000 reasons exist to go here — but be sure to take a chart, a GPS unit and some common sense or at least a local. Don't let life go by too much longer without signing up for a trip through the mangrove maze.

I mentioned earlier that our anniversary — the Stan Nelson-Betsy Clayton event of the year —came and went. Where'd we spend Aug. 18 for No. 19? On Pine Island, which naturally I should have and could have put on my Top 10 list. Except I live here so it's already like an anniversary every night when I drive across the Matlacha drawbridge.

Pine Island is a long way from the spot in Oregon where we honeymooned. Which, by the way, was on Paulina Lake, a caldera formed from a remnant of a volcano that collapsed ages ago and left a crater turned-bluer-than-blue fishing spot.

Too bad there wasn't an island in the middle of the lake on which we could camp.

— Betsy Clayton is a freelancer based on Pine Island a nd also is Lee County Parks & Recreation's waterways coordinator. Contact her at boatingbybetsy@ yahoo.com.